Shutter information needed - ROC brass

[rrunnertexas]

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4636/27547237029_c0a3d14983_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/HYfMQz)P1140786 (https://flic.kr/p/HYfMQz) by rrunnertexas (https://www.flickr.com/photos/18736302@N03/), on Flickr

I recently purchased this nice looking brass shutter. The front states it is from a Poco camera by Rochester Optical, 5x7.

I'm seeking more information about this shutter and who made it. Bausch & Lomb?

Both lens elements are clean and clear, but unlabeled as to what type they are.

It is in working condition, 1/25th, B and T.

A Google search did not reveal much. Any help is sure appreciated.

[Louis Pacilla]

Manufactured by Gundlach in their very early days and where sold to Rochester Camera Mfg.Co. (not Rochester Optical Co. trade name for their H&S cameras was Premo) and used for a series of their Poco hand & stand cameras. I have a working version of this shutter w/ a 12" Rapid Rec lens that came from a WP Poco camera. The Gundlach Model C shutter is a simple affair w/ two horizontal metal shutter blades & a nice iris that works simply and well. Though because of a great abundance of lenses here and loads in the 12" FL I have never used it for image making but should produce just like a quality Rapid Rec formula.
*** I do know these companies (R.C.O. & R.C.C. )owned by brothers had several incarnations/mergers over the later years but at this time period they stood as independent companies***

I have seen our version of Gundlach shutter called the Model C and this cut is of a more recent "Improved" Model C to ours but for the most part works the same way and looks pretty similar. I believe yours being a 5x7 size is a #3 and mine being a 8x10 size is a #5. http://piercevaubel.com/cam/catalogs/1899gundlachlp484.htm

I certainly could be a bit off however I did a little research a LONG while back and found a some other 1900 Gundlach printed information (other then the link I provided) to back my information up.

Hope this helps.

BTW I would bet my eyeteeth your lens formula in the shutter is a Rapid Rectilinear f8 and probably around 8" FL & reflection test will tell.

[Steven Tribe]

Louis remembers very well! The other Rochester company (PREMO) used a similar shutter called the "Victor" and another one from Bausch & Lomb. Here are two versions (1891 and 1898).

It is possible that lens mounted is an early version of the Gundlach Turner Reich which wasn't marked as such early on. Still F8 - but useful for Long focus Cycle cameras. Both the Rochester cameras firms did have the Zeiss protar VIIA as the top-of-the-market option (at least in 1898!).

[rrunnertexas]

Great information! Thank you! The "early days" might mean this shutter was made around 1895 since the patent says 1894?

Reading the catalog it appears exactly as described, with the 2 horizontal shutter blades. It works as it is, but is not always 100 percent. I was thinking about opening the front cover and cleaning it up. I can see some corrosion in one spot which may be making it hang up. I'm not sure how to remove the knob that selects T B I. Simply pry up?

The aperture scale is on the right side when looking from the front and is labeled as f/8, 11, 16, 22, 32. This must be in the old US scale, so it really is at f/11 when wide open, correct?

I'm cleaning up the body of a Kodak Premo no 9 camera that it will be mounted on, so I hope to try it out soon before I do any cleaning.

[rrunnertexas]

http://www.dtristramludwig.com/images/rapid_rectigraphic_merge.pdf

I found an image with this cool shutter mounted around a brass lens. How did that happen? I like it!

[Steven Tribe]

Very odd! Gundlach probably fitted their shutter in the workshop to a standard barrel lens. The Studio Shutter was used in the same way with Portrait Petzvals.

These first generation shutters look great, but they were never super accurate! Many have early plastic irises/shutter leaves which are both brittle and soluble in organic cleaning fluids.

[Jim Galli]

rruner, your scale is the one in use now, not the obsolete US one. US scale doesn't list f11. It goes 8 16 32 64 128. So your f8 is f8, etc.

[rrunnertexas]

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4599/39381882602_23040fe9c4_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2313rDU)P1140789 (https://flic.kr/p/2313rDU) by rrunnertexas (https://www.flickr.com/photos/18736302@N03/), on Flickr

I made 2 exposures with this lens/shutter - one was exposed nicely, the other did not since the shutter became stuck. I decided to open the front cover and work on it. After a few hours of restoration, all was put back together again and it is working like new. It is ready to shoot some 5x7 images once again.

[rrunnertexas]

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4686/39432477961_1016d1e623_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/235vKTF)Kodak Premo 9 Ford Truck (https://flic.kr/p/235vKTF) by rrunnertexas (https://www.flickr.com/photos/18736302@N03/), on Flickr

First image shot with this lens/shutter.